Intended for healthcare professionals

Fillers A memorable teacher

Serendipity

BMJ 2004; 329 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.329.7479.1385-b (Published 09 December 2004) Cite this as: BMJ 2004;329:1385
  1. David Crosby, retired surgeon
  1. University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff

In retrospect, my belief in serendipity began in the summer of 1951. I was between my first and second years as a clinical medical student at the Welsh National School of Medicine when I was attracted to a medical secretary working in the MRC unit at nearby Llandough Hospital.

She told me that the unit was looking for two medical students who, for a modest stipend, would assist in an MRC survey of coal miners' chest diseases in one of the South Wales mining valleys. Apart from the attractions of the secretary, no stipend was too modest for me at that time, and I applied. Having been interviewed …

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